Pumpkin patch

Flagged

Last night we had our first flag football game. It was a lot of fun. Will scored a touchdown on a sort of nifty run, although after the game I asked him about it and he didn't seem to know he had scored a touchdown. He also forgot several times that it's flag football, not tackle football.

After the game one of our player's parents came over to me and the other coach for volunteering our time to coach the kids. It was one of those nice moments.

Then, the dad says "Hey, are you guys going to start throwing the ball more?"

Tonight, every play for both team was a running play. If we're reasonable about things, every play this season for all three teams in our league comprised of 5-year-olds will be a running play. These kids don't yet know how to stand the right way at the start of the play, don't know which way to run with the ball, don't understand the concept of out of bounds, and don't understand that you shouldn't grab your own teammates' flags.

So yeah, once we get those things down pat we'll starting winging it around.

Having been near my dad as he coached youth sports for a number of years, I've come to expect that some parents will irritate you. And in this case, the guy was really nice and I'm sure not trying to pull a power play and become our offensive coordinator. But man, this sure seems early to be hearing stuff like this.

Bobbing for apples

Will wanted to bob for apples after we played apple baseball. After getting a noseful of water, he thought it was pretty over-rated. Scott, on the other hand, turned out to be a natural, much to the boys' delight.

Apple baseball

Will got to play apple baseball for the first time in the U.P. He even used the "bat" I used when we started playing about 15 years ago.

Picking apples in the U.P.

My cousin Chad and I picked apples this weekend for apple baseball. It was so pretty, I had to go back with the boys for just a few more.

Fall fun in the U.P.

We went to Michigan this weekend to see my family, including my Aunt Jo, who was visiting from South Dakota.

It was an absolutely beautiful weekend. We climbed Sugar Loaf, hung out at the Black Rocks and enjoyed a lot of quality time around County Road MT.

Will at Lake Superior

Photos from Will's classroom

Memory Walk

And Will riding in a fire engine ...

What to do with all this money

Will, convinced that we're going to win $100,000 in the Subway game, is super worried that I'll spend our winnings on something silly -- like my dream house.

"Mommy. We don't need to spend money on a house, we have a house."

What should we spend it on?

"We could buy trophies and jewelry!"